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C. PAPACONSTANTINOU ( 
INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHIC AND FISHERIES REsEARCH • GREECE 
6 
THE DENTITION OF SOME MEDITERRANEAN BLENNII 
(PISCES: BLENNIIDAE) 
LA DENTIZIONE IN ALCUNI BLENNIDI DEL MEDITERRANEO 
Estratto d.: • 
memorie di 
BIOLOGIA 
MARINA 
edi 
OCEANOGRAFIA 
N. S. - Vol. VIlO - Fesc. 1-2, (1977) 
Nm.-to da G. DI SLA810 • Via CoatantlnllPOli. 104 • 10138 NAPOli • ro.. 412!1111 
C. PAPACONSTANTINOU 
INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHIC AND FISHERIES RESEARCH - GREECE: 
THE DENTITION OF SOME MEDITERRANEAN BLENNII 
(PISCES: BLENNIIDAE) 
LA DENTIZIONE IN ALCUNI BLENNIDI DEL MEDITERRANEO 
RIASSUNTO 
Nel presente lavora e stata studiata la morfologia e il numera dei denti 
mandibolari, faringei e vomerini di tutte Ie specie del genere Blennius che vi­
vono l1el Mediterraneo. 
I denti mandibolari sono di due tipi: caniniformi ed incisivi. II numero 
dei caniniformi talvolta differisce nelle ossa premascellari e dentali, e stabile 
per ogni specie e si usa come caratteristica tassonomica delle specie. II nu­
mere degli incisivi aumenta con l'eta. Blennius f/uviatilis presenta un dimor­
fismo sessuale, il numero dei denti mascellari nelle femmine e pili alto. 
I denti faringei sono portati dalle ossa faringee (sopra e sotto) e sono di due 
tipi: grandi e piccoli. II loro numero non e stabile per la stessa specie, percio 
non possono essere usati nella c1assificazione. 
I denti vomerini non si trovano in tutte Ie specie studiate e il loro numero 
e stabile per ogni specie. 
SUMMARY 
The morphology and number of the jaw, pharyngeal and vomer teeth of 
the Blennii of the Mediterranean Sea have been studied. 
The jaw teeth (premaxillary 'and dentarys) are of two types, caniform 
and incisor. The number of the caniforms, sometimes different in the upper 
and lower jaw, is constant for each species and is used as taxonomic cha­
racter. The number of the incisors increases with age. In Blennius f/uviatilis 
a sexual dimorphism is present (the number of incisors in the female is larger). 
The pharyngeal teeth are situated on the pharyngeal bones (upper and 
lower) and are of two types: large and small. Their number is not constant 
for the species and thus this character cannot be used taxonomically. 
The vomer teeth are V0 t found in all the studied Blennii of the Mediterra­
nean Sea but their number is constan t for each species . 
Mem. Bioi. Mar. Ocean., VII (1-2), 11-19 (1977). 
-12­
INTRODUCTION 
Broadly speaking the teeth of 
Teleostei are hard structures in 
the oral cavity, that basically con­
sist of dentin and pulp and are 
used for capturing, holding, cut­
ting, tearing and chewing the 
food. The shape of the teeth va­
ries from species to species but 
it basically depends on the way 
of living which is related to the 
nutritional habits. 
Classical works generally, refer 
to Anarichas lupus as the com­
mon type of teeth of the family 
Blenniidae, which has large and 
turned-backward teeth and a lar­
ge number of small rounded-sha­
ped teeth. BERNER (1945a, b) stu­
died the dentition of Blennius pal­
micornis. The pharyngeal and vo­
mer teeth were drawn or coun­
ted in some Blennii by CANESTRI­
NI (1862) and FACCIOLA (1885). 
In the Blennii studied we dis­
tinguish the following tooth ca­
tegories, (a) jaw teeth, (b) pha­
ryngeal or throat teeth on the 
upper and lower gill-arches, and 
(c) vomer teeth, found in a limi­
ted number of species . 
The purpose of this study is to 
describe the above mentioned 
teeth of various species of the 
genus Blennius of the Mediterra­
nean Sea. 
MATERIAL 
The material that has been used 
for this study was taken from 
the Mediterranean Sea. The ma­
jority was fished on the coast of 
Ligurian Sea, Sicily and Greece. 
A sufficient number of specimens, 
among which the holotypes of ma­
ny species, were taken from the 
collections of several Italian and 
French Museum. 
RESULTS AND bISCUSSION 
1. Jaw teeth 
The Blennii studied, have two 
types of jaw teeth, that is, the 
taniform and incisor tt:leth: The 
t:1niform teeth irt some · species · 
may be absent or be present up 
to two Oh each premaxillary or 
dentary bone. They are caniform 
with the apex curved backwards. 
The irtclSor teeth are slightly bra" 
adened along all theit length I 
slightly conical and curved to" 
wards the oral cavity. 
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Longitudinal sections have 
shown that the teeth are compo­
sed of a wall of dentine tissue 
which is covered by a thin enamel 
layer which is thicker on the tip 
of the tooth. The pulp cavity is 
wide and rather triangular in 
which a well developed web of 
blood capillaries can be observed. 
The pulp cavity of the caniform 
teeth are spherical and smaller 
than the incisors. 
The incisors do not have dia­
stema, but there has been found 
a diastema between the incisor 
and caniform teeth in all species 
studied except in Blennius tenta­
cularis. In some species diastema­
ta have been observed between 
the last few teeth on both sides 
of the jaws. 
The dentition is semicyclic, ex­
cept in Blennius pavo and Blen­
nius trigloides in which it is con­
cave shaped. The incisor teeth of 
all the species of the genus Blen­
nius are tightly fixed except those 
in Coryphoblennius galerita which 
are movable. 
The premaxillary teeth are smal­
ler than the corresponding den­
tary . Blennius gattorugine lacks 
the caniform teeth while Blennius 
sanguinolentus, Blennius crista­
tus, and Coryphoblennius galeri­
ta present instead of caniform 
teeth, short, slightly curved back­
wards teeth. In a few species 
(Blennius sphinx, Blennius tenta­
cularis, Blennius ponticus incogni­
tus and Coryphoblennius galeri­
ta) two caniforms have been ob­
served in each dentary or prema­
xillary bone while in Blennius 
pavo specimens with only one 
such tooth are rarely found. 
The number of the incisor teeth 
increases significantly with age. 
SPRINGER . (1959, 1967) has shown 
this for Chasmodes bosquianus 
and Hypsoblennius sordidus, whe­
reas RANDAL (1960) for Hypleuro­
chilus aequipinis. STEINTZ (1949) 
proposed something analogous for 
Blennius pavo, but the small num­
ber of specimens examined did 
not allow him to put forward a 
definite conclusion. The number 
of teeth has been coun ted in many 
individuals and it was found in 
all studied Blennii that it increa­
ses with age. This relationship was 
not clearly observed in Blennius 
ocellaris. In Blennius fluviatilis a 
sexual dimorphism was observed 
since the number of premaxillary 
zlDd dentary teeth in female indi­
viduals was larger than in male. 
Sexual dimorphism was also ob­
served by SZRINGER (1968) in 0­
mobranchus herklosti. 
2. Pharyngeal teeth. 
The bibliography concerning 
the pharyngeal teeth of Blennii­
dae and especially of the genus 
Blennius is sparse, therefore their 
description would be valuable. 
The description of the pharyngeal 
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Fig. 1. . Relationship between number of incisor teeth and standard lenght of 
some Blennii a) B. sanguinolentus, b) B. sphinx, c) B. f/uviatilis and d) C. ga· 
Ierita (---, premaxillari teeth, <3 .- - - -, premaxillari teeth, ,? - .-.-.-, 
dentari teeth, '? . ... . . dentari teeth , <3.). 
Fig. I. . Relazione tra gli incisivi e Iunghezza standard di alcuni Blennidi a) B. 
sanguinolentus, b) B. sphinx, c) B. f/uviatilis, d ) C. galerita ( , premascel· 
lari c), - - - - - , premasc;:eilari 'f, -.-.- . dentari ,?, ... :. dentari <3). 
- is­
teeth given by CANESTRINI (1863) 
for Blennius basiliscus and Cory­
phoblennius galerita shows diffe­
rences between those species that 
have not been found in this stu­
dy. FACIOLA (1885) counted the 
pharyngeal teeth of Blennius pa­
vo, Blennius sanguinolent us, Blen­
nius trigloides and Coryphoblen­
nius galerita. 
The Blenniidae bear pharyngeal 
teeth on four pharyngealbones 
(2+2) that are found on the up­
per and lower part of the entran­
ce of the esophagus. The number 
of the pharyngeal teeth shows 
differences not only among the 
species but also in the same spe­
cies so that it cannot be used 
for taxonomic purposes. 
The upper pharyngeal bones are 
trapezoid-shaped whereas the 
dental ·surface is strongly curved. 
They are below the parasphenoid 
bones while they are inter con­
nected with muscles and liga­
ments. The posterior curved sur­
face of the upper pharyngeal is 
connected to the roof of the an­
terior part of esophagus. Two 
kinds of teeth are found on the 
upper pharyngeal (a) large (3-11 
in number), slightly conical and 
curved backward, linearly arran­
ged on the sides of the pharyn­
geal that are turned towards the 
longitudinal midline of the head 
and (b) small ones (1-8 in num- · 
ber) ' which are irregularly arran­
ged. The lower half of the poste­
rior surface of the large pharyn­
geal teeth widens to form a ca­
vity on the extended surface. The 
marginal large pharyngeal teeth 
are smaller in size. The number 
of the upper pharyngeal teeth ap­
pears to depend directly on the 
length of the species. This is not 
true for Blennius gattorugine. In 
Blennius gattorugine and rarely 
in other species the srriall pharyn­
geal teeth are arranged in pairs. 
The lower pharyngeal bones 
(5th ceratobranchial) have a sick­
le-shaped form with their convex 
side turned towards the longitu­
dinal midline of the head and are 
joined together only by the ante­
rior end with a cartilage. The po­
sterior portion of each pharyn­
geal bone is joined with ligaments 
to the corresponding upper phary­
ngeal. One strongly folded muscle 
app~ars between the lower pha­
ryngeal .bones and forms the an­
terior end of the esophagus. The 
dental surface, being convex, has 
two types of teeth similar to those 
of the upper pharyngeals. The lar­
ge teeth (2-12 in number) are ar­
ranged circumferentially along 
the convex side. The small teeth 
are found behind the larger ones 
and their number varies from 2­
12 depending apparently on the 
length of the species (large spe­
cies have a bigger number of 
teeth), Blennius gattorugine is 
exempted from the above rule and 
its specimens usually Jack srnall 
J 
TABLE 1. - Show the numbers of jaw, pharyngeal and vomer teeth of all Blennii species of the Mediterranean Sea. 
TABELLA 1. - In tabella e riporta to il numero di denti faringei, mascellari e vomerini di Blenni i del Mediterraneo. 
) 
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
s. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
I Jaw teeth Pharyngeal teeth 
premaxillari dentari upper lower 
- - .­ - -
Caniform Incisors Caniform Incisors Large Small Large Small 
- -
B. ocellaris 1 . . 1 21-47 1. . 1 18-45 7-11 (8-9) 1-6 (3-5) 5-7 (5-6) 2-7 (4-6) 
B. basiliscus 1. . 1 23-31 1 . . 1 20-26 6-7 2-3 4-5 6-8 
B. cristatus 0 18-34 1 . . 1 18-30 - - - -
B. fluviat ilis 1 . . 1 18-30 1 .. 1 13-21 3-5 (4) 4-7 (6-7) 5 1-3 (2-3) 
B. gattorugine 0 21-46 0 20-49 6-11 (9-10) 0-2 (1-2) 6-12 (6-10 ) 0-10 
B. pavo 1 .. 1 17-26 1 . . 1 14-21 4-6 (5) 5-8 (7-8 ) 5-7 (6-7 ) 5-8 (7-8) 
B. ponticus incognitus 1 .. 1 14-30 1..1 16-25 3-4 5-8 (5-6) 4 3-8 (5-7) 
B. rouxi 1. .1 20-31 1. .1 18-28 - - - -
B. sanguinolentus 0,1(0) . .. 0,1(0) 24-41 1. .1 I 22-42 6-9 3-5 4-5 7-12 (9-11) 
B. sphinx 1,2 . . t2 24-41 1. .1 20-36 4-7 (5-6) 2-5 (3-4) 2-5 (4) 4-12 (6-11) 
B. tentacularis 1 . . 1 20-31 1. .1 17-21 6-7 2-4 5 3-4 
B . zvonimiri 1 .. 1 22-34 1. . 1 20-31 6 1-2 5 2-4 
B. canevai 1. . 1 19-33 1. . 1 18-30 5 2-4 (3) 4 5-7 (5) 
B. dalmat inus 1 .. 1 18-20 1. . 1 17-20 4 0 2-3 2-3 
B. nigriceps 1 .. 1 30 1. .1 28 - - - -
B. trigloides 1. . 1 14-34 1. . 1 I 13-26 4-6 (5-6) 1-4 (2-4) 3-5 (4) 4-14 (6-11) 
I Coryphoblennius galerita I 0 37-68 1 .. 1 I 24-45 5-6 (5) 2-7 (4-5) 3-4 (4) 6-15 (8-11) . . 
The parentheses indicate higher frequencies 
Vomer 
teeth 
0 
1 
0 
1 
0-1 (0) I 
1 
1-3 (2) 
0 
1-2 (1) 
3-6 (4-5) 
0 
1 
1 
1 
3-4 (4) 
3-6 (4-5) 
-
-11­
teeth. The small teeth in Cory­
phoblennius galerita and more ra­
rely in other species grow in 
pairs. 
3. Vomer teeth. 
FACCIOLA (1885) reports the pre­
sence of vomer teeth in the Blen­
niidae and notes that their num­
ber in Blennius sphinx, Blennius 
pavo, Blennius ocellaris and Blen­
nius gattorugine. The small, round 
and sphenoidal vomer teeth are 
arranged on the surface of the vo­
mer wings. Where there is only 
one or two teeth they are placed 
in the middle of the vomer but 
when they are more than two ex­
tend along the anterior margin 
of the vomer wings. 
The number of vomer teeth is 
constant for most of the species 
and does not change with the age 
of the specimen. In the Blennius 
sphinx and Coryphoblennius ga­
lerita, which have the largest num­
ber of vomer teeth, the number 
of teeth varies randomly in the 
young and mature specimens. In 
the Blennius gattorugine one vo­
mer tooth was observed only once. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
I wish to thank Prof. ENRICO TORTONESE, Director of the Museum of Natural 
History of Genova (Italy), for the hospitality in his laboratory during my 
stay in Italy and his help and advices as well as Prof. ARTURO BOLOGNARI, Di­
rector of the Institute of Zoology of University of Messina (Italy), for the 
facilities provided. Finally, I am grateful to Mr. ANTONIS ZARKANELLAS, for re­
viewing the English manuscript. 
_- 18­
REFERENCE.S 
BERNER L. - Note sur la deYlture -du Blennius palmicornis C. et V. Bull. Soc. 
Zool. Fr. , 70, 39-40 (1945). 
BERNER L. - L'eruption dentaire chez Blennius palmicornis C. et V. Bull. Soc. 
Zool. Fr., 70, 155-156 (1946), 
CANESTRINI G. - I. B1ennini, Anarrhichadini e Callionimi del golfo di Genova. 
Arch. Zool. Anat. Fisiol., 2 (1), 83-116 (1862). ' 
FACCIOLA .L. - I B1ennidi del mar di Messina . Alt. ' Soc. Toscana Sc. Nat., 6 (2), 
273-342 (1885). 
RANDAL J. E. - The West Indian blenniid fishes of the genus Hypleurochilus, 
with description of a new species. Proc. Bioi. Soc. Washington, 7,9, No.9, 
57-72 (1966). 
SPRINGER G. V. - A new species of Labrisomus from the Caribbean Sea, with 
notes on other fishes of the subtribe Labr isomini. Copeia, no. 4, 289-292 (1959). 
SPRINGER G. V. - The Pacific Souih America blenniid fish, Hypsoblennius 
sordidus. Copeia, no. 2, 461-46$_ (1967). _ . . 
SPRINGER G. V. - Osteology and classification of the fishes of the family Blenniidae. 
Smith. Inst. U.S. Nat. Mus. Washington D_C., Bull., 288, pp. 85 (1968) . 
STEINITZ H. - Contribution to the knowledge of the Blenniidae of the Eastern 
Mediterranean III. Rev. Fac. Sc. Univ. Instanbul, Ser. B, 15, 170-197 (1950).